Despite living in the entertainment capital of the world, the Los Angeles thread millipede has avoided the limelight. But when researchers spotted it, they knew they’d found a creature worthy of center stage.
The newfound species (Illacme socal) is small, pale and lives at least 10 centimeters under the soil, researchers report June 21 in ZooKeys. It’s just the third known species in this genus, a group of millipedes that stands out for their subterranean lifestyles and isolation from relatives.